Organelles are specialized subunits within a cell and have specific functions. Mitochondrion is a kind of the organelles where oxidative phosphorylation and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis take place. The adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is used as an energy source of metabolic processes in cells so that the mitochondrion is also described as cellular power plants. Except for providing energy to cell, the mitochondrion is involved in other processes, including signaling, cellular differentiation, cell death, as well as the control of the cell cycle and cell growth. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA can help researches about genetics and hereditary diseases. Therefore, developing a method to extract the mitochondria from cell without damaging the mitochondria can facilitate the researches about genetics and hereditary diseases.
Conventional manners of extract organelles from cells are rupturing cell membranes through chemical or physical ways to extract organelles within the cells. However, the conventional manners have a problem that membranes of the organelles are also damaged when the cell membranes are ruptured through the chemical or physical ways so that only a few of the organelles can be extracted from the cells, intactly. Thus, developers try to rupture the cell membranes to extract organelles from the cells without damaging the organelles.